The Nation Newspaper

Tag: MASSOB

  • MASSOB berates NEF for comment on agitation

    MASSOB berates NEF for comment on agitation

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has berated the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) for calling Biafra agitators “frustrated losers who have no remedy for their woes”.

    A statement yesterday in Enugu by MASSOB Leader, Uchenna Madu, said no power could stop Biafra’s actualisation “because the undying spirit lives in every Igbo man, including those working with (President Muhammadu) Buhari”.

    The statement reads: “Since President Buhari didn’t succeed in crushing the old Biafra with the use of guns, how can he crush the new Biafra that is anchored on non-violence, more self-determination will of Ndigbo?”

    MASSOB described NEF as a group of elders with nothing to offer the present generation.

    The statement added: “No power on earth can crush Biafra actualisation because the undying spirit lives in every Igbo man, including those working with Buhari.

    “Biafra revolution is indestructible because God, history and humanity are on our side.

    “NEF’s cries that North is short-changed or cheated in this year’s budget are hypocritical and deceiving.

    “They want to divert attention given to the South on the political robbery against them on the budget.”

  • MASSOB demands release of Kanu, others

    MASSOB demands release of Kanu, others

    The Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), has once again called for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Ben Onwuka of Biafra Zionist Movement (BZM).

     

    Also, the movement demanded for immediate release of 23 other Biafran detainees languishing at Awka and Onitsha prisons since 2006.

     

    In a statement yesterday in Onitsha, the national Director of Information (MASSOB), Comrade Samuel Edeson, said the group’s leader, Uchenna Madu would soon attend International conference with seven other members in Western Europe where some of the issues would be discussed.

     

    He said the decisions were taken at MASSOB’s headquarters yesterday at Okwe, Okigwe during its emergency meeting.

     

    Furthermore, MASSOB said the continued detention of these Igbo agitators by the federal government, was the more the country suffered diplomatic damages.

     

    “MASSOB will continue to partner with (IPOB), lower Niger congress and Biafran groups in Diaspora for genuine agitation, we shall never relent despite arrests, detention, killings and persecution”

     

    The international conference according to (MASSOB), was on the rights of Indigenous People and self determination groups across the globe.

     

    “We demand for the unconditional release of our brother, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, (IPOB leader and others) whose cases cannot be justified by the Nigeria government, their continued detention has exposed the bias of Nigeria judiciary” MASSOB said.

     

  • Compensate Igbo traders over losses – MASSOB tells Kano Gov

    Compensate Igbo traders over losses – MASSOB tells Kano Gov

    The Movement for the Actualization of Sovereign States of Biafra, MASSOB, has called on Governor abdulahi Ganduje of Kano State to compensate Igbo traders who were victims of the recent fire incident which gutted the Sabon Gari market.

    The midnight fire incident at Sabon Gari Market, Kano consumed goods of traders worth millions of Naira and touched over 4,000 shops.

    MASSOB’s National Director of Information, Sunny Okereafor, in a statement lamented that Igbo traders have severally been at the receiving end of any market demolition and fire incidents in Nigeria, amounting to untold loss of cash and property, even as he urged the Kano state government to ensure that victims of the inferno are compensated adequately.

    Okerefaor urged Igbo businessmen to invest at home, stressing that if the Igbo could establish 30% of their businesses in their home states, the South East would be more developed than Abuja and Lagos cities.

    According to him, “We are calling on the Kano state government to compensate victims of the Sabon Gari market fire incident. From available information MASSOB had gathered, 90% of the affcted traders are of the Igbo stock who have suffered losses.

    “They should be compensated to assist them get back to business. Again, the state government should set up a probe panel to find the immediate and remote cause of the incident. Ndigbo contributes immensely to the development of Kano state, and must not be abandoned in this hour of need.

    “MASSOB has lost count of market fire incidents and demolition of markets, including government induced policies targeted at Igbo traders. In  Lagos state, in January 2016, Igbo traders returned from the Christmas and New Year festivities to see their shops demolished on the orders of Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode and wares looted by hoodlums.

    “During crises and riot situations, Igbo traders are always targeted and their goods destroyed. This is why we are calling on the international community to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to organize a referendum and grant Ndigbo an independent state of Biafra where there would be no victimization.”

    Okereafor also called on the governor to institute a commission of inquiry into the incident, further stated that those arrested for looting properties at the burnt market should not be allowed to escape justice.

  • MASSOB decries UN’s ‘silence’ over killing of pro-Biafra protesters

    MASSOB decries UN’s ‘silence’ over killing of pro-Biafra protesters

    The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has expressed worry over what it described as the “seemingly continued silence of the United Nations and other international bodies on the killing of pro-Biafra protesters in the Southeast”.

    National Director of Information Sunny Okereafor who addressed reporters yesterday accused the international agencies of leaving Biafrans to their fate while condemning such injustices in other parts of the world.

    His words: “MASSOB is disturbed by the silence of the international community on happenings in Nigeria where pro-Biafra agitators are being killed. MASSOB members were massacred in Okigwe, Aba, Owerri, Onitsha and other places, but in all these, the international community has been silent.

    “What we now hear is that the Chief of Army Staff said he will raise a committee to investigate the killings. How can the Army be a judge in its own case? What is the assurance that justice will be served on the matter? Is this not injustice?

    “The Cameroonian government last week convicted over 80 terrorists, yet, Nigeria is still playing politics with those it arrested for terrorism. How many of these killings have the Nigerian government investigated? It has always been the more you look, the less you see. Even on terrorism, how many suspects have been convicted? Kabiru Sokoto and others are being ferried from one prison to the other, receiving VIP treatments.”

    What of the APO six where innocent Igbo traders were killed in the prime of their youth? Nobody has been convicted.

    “Nigeria is trampling on the blood of the people of the former Eastern Nigeria. We urge the International community to come to our aid because any further delay could cause our people to be wiped out.”

    Okereafor warned that MASSOB may be forced to seek self-help if the Nigerian security forces continue to kill innocent agitators.

  • Nnamdi Kanu: No plans to invade court – MASSOB

    Nnamdi Kanu: No plans to invade court – MASSOB

    The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) faction led by Uchenna Madu has denied the allegation by the Department of State Service (DSS) that some Biafra agitators plan to invade the Court and forcefully free their leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
    Madu said that both Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and MASSOB have no plans to invade any court in the country during the façade trail of Kanu with the intention to free their leader.

    MASSOB in a statement issued by the factional leader, Comrade Madu described the allegation as ‘rattling of a confused and drowning people’, as the two groups are non violent in any form.

    The statement reads, “How can a non-violence and armless organization like IPOB and MASSOB invade a courtroom located on the 3rd floor of the Federal High Court surrounded by heavily armed combine team of
    Nigeria security agents and modern technological security gadgets.

    “MASSOB and IPOB have no such intention, plan or agenda as we know that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and others committed no offence against Nigeria.

    “We depend and focus on the divine justice of God (as) Nnamdi Kanu’s arrest and detention has revived the conscientiousness of Biafra to a higher dimension which can never be quenched.

    “The insistence of the Federal Government to hide the identity of their witnesses against Nnamdi Kanu and others is a sign of cowardice and unsteadiness.

    “They have no genuine witnesses now because the contracted ones have been exposed. It remains only the staff of DSS who will appear with Igbo names to create negative impression that Ndigbo are against
    Nnamdi Kanu.

    “FG has shot itself on the leg. For a soft landing, MASSOB advises President Buhari to immediately reach the principal Igbo leaders the Federal Government delegation led by the Director of Military Intelligence (DMI) met, with some representatives of IPOB and MASSOB on 22nd of December 2015 at Enugu, and release Nnamdi Kanu to them.

    “The continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu will bring more devastating diplomatic doom for Nigeria. Biafrans are ready for the trial.”

  • MASSOB: Ohanaeze betrayed Biafra’s cause

    The leadership of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has accused the youth wing of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the Ohanaeze Youth Council (OYC) of sabotaging Biafra’s cause.

    Reports allege that OYC does not want an independent nation and would rather remain in a united Nigeria.

    But MASSOB yesterday accused the OYC of turning history on its head by asserting that the forefathers of Ndigbo fought for Nigeria’s independence and so would not leave the country.

    National Director of Information Sunny Okereafor in a statement described OYC as a misguided organisation which has decided to close its eyes to the years of marginalisation of Ndigbo, including the treatment of its people as second class citizens in a country where they are major stakeholders.

    Okereafor said MASSOB had uncovered plans by the Federal Government and the enemies of Ndigbo to sponsor some Igbo youths to protest against Biafra, stressing that with the activities of OYC, it had no doubt that the group is up for mischief with the manner it has castigated the Biafra struggle.

    The statement reads: “MASSOB is worried by the activities of this group, which calls itself Ohanaeze Youth Council Worldwide, led by Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro. We have continued to watch with dismay how a purported Igbo group could lend itself as a willing tool against the interest of Ndigbo.

    “What does the Ohanaeze youth Council seek to achieve by its suspicious visit to Northern monarchs and politicians? How many times have they spoken against the killing of pro-Biafra agitators, the non-appointment of Ndigbo to higher political offices, and the branding of Ndigbo as second class citizens?

    “Had it occurred to Isiguzoro and his group that Ndigbo have the worst network of roads in the country and yet, has received the smallest allocation for road projects in the annual budgets? How many times have they spoken against this evil practice?

    “Of what profit will it be to Ohanaeze Youth Council and their sponsor to use the Biafran struggle as an item of trade? How many Northern leaders have spoken against the marginalisation of Ndigbo in Nigeria?

    “If the group likes, it can visit all the traditional rulers, religious leaders and politicians in the north, but MASSOB warns that such effort would be futile as Ohanaeze Ndigbo does not have the mandate to embark on such visits. Ohanaeze Youth Council should retrace her steps or face the wrath of Ndigbo.

    “For allowing itself to be used against the interest of Ndigbo, Ohanaeze should cover its face in shame. This is a grave form of betrayal of the people.”

    Okereafor, who urged the Federal Government to release the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Bifara (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, reminded Ohanaeze that it lacked the power to stop Igbo youths from protesting the injustice meted out to Ndigbo. He reiterated MASSOB’s determination to continue the struggle for the actualisation of an independent state of Biafra.

    He also warned Northern leaders to stop listening to groups whose stock in trade is to use the Biafran struggle to fend for themselves at the detriment of the suffering people of the zone.

  • MASSOB leadership crisis deepens

    MASSOB leadership crisis deepens

    The leadership crisis rocking the Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) deepened yesterday with rival groups trading words.

    The Uchenna Madu-led faction told the leader of Biafra Independent Movement (BIM) Ralph Uwazuruike, that his evil plots against Ndigbo would deface him.

    Madu alleged that the Federal Government’s plan to hide the identities of witnesses against Nnamdi Kanu was because the leading witness was a popular Igbo man who, according to him, threw caution to the wind because of money and mundane things.

    “It will surprise Ndigbo and Biafrans that the leading witness against Nnamdi Kanu is Ralph Uwazuruike. We have all the evidence to prove our points on Uwazuruike’s romance with the oppressors of Ndigbo.

    “He will sponsor, support and execute any evil plan that will tarnish or even kill Kanu, just for people to see him as the over-all Biafra leader, but the people are wiser now.

    “Initially, the DSS had no evidence against Kanu until Uwazuruike made himself a willing tool of destabilisation.

    “For fear of arrest and atrocities he committed against Ndigbo in the name of Biafra, Uwazuruike desperately wants to impress President Muhammadu Buhari to cover his crime against Ndigbo.

    “As a former National Director of Information under Uwazuruike, I challenge him to an open debate on all our activities involving Biafra and the Igbo cause anywhere in Igbo land,” Madu said.

    But Okechukwu Nwogu, Personal Assistant to Uwazuruike, described the allegations as baseless and the ranting of a sinking man.

    “Uchenna Madu can not substantiate his allegations, he is a confused man and his group has no agenda for Ndigbo because they are confused.

    “What Uwazuruike wants for Ndigbo is Biafra and other good things that are on the way, people should not take Uchenna Madu and his group serious,” he said.

  • MASSOB leaders clash

    MASSOB leaders clash

    The Ralph Uwazuruike-led faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has accused the Federal Government of using Uchenna Madu, who it said was expelled, to destabilise the organisation.

    National Director of Information Sunny Okereafor, in an interview in Aba yesterday, said reliable information has it that Madu and his cohorts have been working with the Federal Government to sabotage Biafra.

    His words: “There is no doubt that the Federal Government is using Uchenna Madu to cause crisis in the former Eastern region; he is being used to instigate crisis in the Biafran territory. Uchenna Madu was our member before he was expelled; so we know him and what he can do. He should cover his face in shame for his anti-Biafra activities; he is seeking relevance and can do anything for the sake of money. Madu will regret being used to sabotage Biafra.

    “He is now claiming MASSOB headquarters in Okwe, Imo State, which was built on Chief Ralph Uwazuruike’s father’s land. Why can’t Madu go back to his father’s compound in Isuochi, Abia state and set up his own group? He is staying at Uwazuruike’s building, why can’t he go back to his own father’s house?

    “He should stop using MASSOB to deceive people. He is just using Uwazuruike’s name to cover his deals with the Federal Government against Biafra.”

    Okereafor reiterated that the pro-Biafra group would not be distracted by the antics of Madu and his likes, adding that as a non-violent organisation, MASSOB has clear strategies to achieve an independent state of Biafra.

    He dismissed allegations that Uwazuruike enriched himself while claiming to fight for Biafra, describing the report as the ranting of expelled members like Madu, who out of frustration, has been trying to soil Uwazuruike’s image.

    “Chief Ralph Uwazuruike’s problem is that people misunderstand his non-violent approach to the issue of Biafra. They should know that Biafra cannot be achieved with violence. Chief Uwazuruike has sacrificed a lot; do you know how many times he was jailed for fighting for Biafra?

    “Between Uwazuruike and Madu, who has made more efforts to actualise Biafra? So, Madu and his group will continue to make unfounded allegations against Uwazuruike to distract attention from their making the struggle a tool of merchandise and duping. We will not allow ourselves to be distracted by people like him,” Okereafor added.

  • Security agencies on alert as IPOB, MASSOB plan protest in Aba

    Security agencies in Abia State have been placed on alert following plans by the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) and the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) to protest in Aba.

    Anti-riot mobile policemen have been deployed to the National High School on Port Harcourt road where the group usually hold prayers before taking to the streets. Their last prayer session turned bloody when they clashed with security men.

    A security personnel who wished anonymity said their men were deployed to the street and some flashpoints as part of measures to disarm the group and prevent a halt in economic activities.

    “These groups, as you can recall, have been protesting and we have been professional in dealing with them. But when the protest is becoming bloody, we will not watch while lives and property are endangered,” he said.

    However, the protesters have vowed not to be cowed by the actions of the security personnel. They said they were fully resolved in their protest until the Federal Government releases Nnamdi Kanu.

    They called on the international community to persuade the Federal Government to release Kanu unconditionally.

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Solomon Arase has warned protesters against carrying arms or face the consequences.

    A statement by the force’ spokesman Olabisi Kolawole said: “The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to threats by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ‘to carry guns in self defense’.

    “The Inspector-General of Police, Solomon E. Arase, has warned IPOB members to reconsider their stand or face the wrath of the extant laws on bearing of firearms. Members of the group should, therefore, note that it is an offence punishable under the Criminal Law of the Federation of Nigeria for a person to have in his possession or under his control any prohibited firearms without license or permit. “IPOB members are advised to be guided in respect of the above as the police force is poised to uphold the existing restriction over the use of firearms.

    “Meanwhile, all Zonal AIGs and State Commands CPs have been directed to strictly enforce the laws against the use of illegal firearms across the length and breadth of the country.

    “The IG has assured that the Nigeria Police Force, complemented by other security agencies, will work towards eliminating any threat to internal security and social disorder. He has reassured Nigerians of his commitment to their safety and security.”

  • MASSOB demands referendum

    MASSOB demands referendum

    The Uchenna Madu-led faction of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has threatened to make Nigeria ungovernable if the Federal Government fails to conduct a referendum in the Southeast.

    This was contained in a statement by its Director of Information, Samuel Edeson.

    The group warned that it shall use everything legally “at our disposal to fight the Nigerian government, especially civil disobedience. We will call for a ‘sit-at-home’ in all Biafran lands and Lagos.”

    MASSOB also threatened to drag former President Olusegun Obasanjo to the International Criminal Court (ICC) “for all the atrocities he committed against Biafra since 1970”.

    These, according to it, include the massacre of Odi people, the massacre of MASSOB members in Aba, Okigwe and Onitsha, the killing of six Igbo traders (the Apo six).

    According to the group, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, Department of State Security (DSS), and the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Yusuf Buratai “should make their prison wide because what happened in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Syria, will happen here very soon”.

    MASSOB said it would soon take its campaign to the American, British, French, Chinese and Russian embassies in Abuja.

    On the division in the group, the statement stressed that there was no division in MASSOB.

    “Uwazuruike is just using S. O. Chukwu and Sunday Okoroafor to cover his shame. We want to remind Sunday Okoroafor that his boss, Uwazuruike was expelled from MASSOB on November 26, 2015 and in less than two weeks, he formed the Biafra Independent Movement (BIM).”